Singer all but unhittable for eight innings

In just his ninth Major League start, Brady Singer nearly carved out his name in the record books. He settled for carving his way through the Indians' batting order.

The third-ranked Royals prospect carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning, allowing a lone single and two walks while striking out eight in eight frames as Kansas City rolled to an 11-1 victory over Cleveland at Progressive Field on Thursday.

Brady Singer lived that fantasy.

The @Royals prospect carried a no-no into the eighth, allowing just one hit with eight K's in a dominant performance.

🦾🦾🦾🦾🦾🦾🦾🦾pic.twitter.com/7vIfMKW8ZY

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) September 11, 2020

"I felt really good from the start," Singer told reporters after the game. "It's probably a bad thing, but I noticed there were no hits after the third inning. But I felt sharp from pitch one."

That was no exaggeration. Singer started off the contest by freezing Indians leadoff hitter Cesar Hernandez on a called strike three, but then issued a free pass to Mike Freeman. That didn't rattle the right-hander. MLB.com's No. 58 overall prospect promptly set down the next 19 batters in a row.

Cleveland didn't reach again against Singer until the seventh, when he walked Carlos Santana with two outs in the frame. The 24-year-old induced Franmil Reyes to hit into a forceout to end the inning.

Fully aware of his no-hit bid, Singer concentrated on holding his emotions in check.

"I just tried to keep the nerves down and tried not to think about it," he said. "I tried to keep the stress down and I feel like I did."

Singer started off the eighth already over a career-high 100 pitches, but quickly got Tyler Naquin to fly out and Josh Naylor to ground out. He worked a full count to Austin Hedges, but the catcher grounded the righty's payoff pitch into right field to end the no-hitter bid.

After a quick meeting on the mound, the 18th overall pick in the 2018 First-Year Player Draft whiffed Delino DeShields on three straight pitches to end his night and departed to a raucous reception from the Royals' dugout.

To get to that point, Singer relied primarily on just two pitches, using a combination of his fastball and slider with one changeup. He credited catcher Cam Gallagher for that, but added he's been feeling confident -- especially with his breaking ball.

"Command was huge," Singer said. "I stayed low and in the zone and elevated when I needed to. I kept the slider away from the heart of the plate. That's something I've been really focusing on."

The righty, who had not pitched above the Double-A level before this year nor allowed fewer than two earned runs in a game in the Majors -- lowered his ERA to 4.66 while throwing 119 pitches, 80 for strikes. Prior to Thursday, the longest outing of Singer's big league career was 5 2/3 innings, which he achieved twice.

Kansas City's No. 22 prospect Edward Olivares ripped a solo shot on the first pitch he saw in the sixth for his third home run of the year and second as a Royal. Since being acquired from San Diego at the Trade Deadline, the 24-year-old has hit safely in all seven games, with multi-hit games in five of them.

You think Edward Olivares likes his new team?

The @Royals prospect now has two dingers with his new team over a seven-game hitting streak 🤯pic.twitter.com/4bK6NdHON0

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) September 11, 2020

In other action:

Cardinals 12, Tigers 2 (Game 1)

St. Louis' No. 27 prospect Seth Elledge worked around a hit while fanning one in a scoreless sixth. Fifth-ranked Detroit prospect Tarik Skubal got the start and was tagged for six runs on three hits -- including Yadier Molina's two-run homer -- and four walks while striking out three in two innings. Sixth-ranked Isaac Paredes singled to right in the third and finished 1-for-3. No. 7 Daz Cameron went 0-for-2 with a walk and No. 15 Beau Burrows allowed a run on five hits while striking out one in 1 1/3 frames. Box score

Tigers 6, Cardinals (Game 2)

No. 17 Detroit prospect Bryan Garcia earned his second save of the season by throwing a perfect ninth. Cameron went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and left six on base in the nightcap. Box score

Athletics 3, Astros 1

Houston's No. 11 prospect Brandon Bielak gave up two hits in a scoreless ninth to lower his ERA to 5.79. Ninth-ranked Oakland prospect Jonah Heim finished 0-for-3. He's batting .214 after five games in The Show. Box score

Angels 6, Rangers 2

Third-ranked Texas prospect Leody Taveras led off the bottom of the first with a triple to right and scored on a groundout by Rougned Odor. It was his only hit in four at-bats. No. 7 Anderson Tejeda singled in the third and stole second base, then tripled home a run in the eighth. Top Los Angeles prospect Jo Adell finished 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. His average fell to .173 in 29 games. Box score

Braves 7, Nationals 6

Atlanta's No. 11 prospect Huascar Ynoa allowed a run on two hits and four walks while fanning two in three innings. Top Washington prospect Carter Kieboom went hitless in four at-bats, striking out twice. Box score

Marlins 7, Phillies 6

One night after crushing first Major League home run and triple, fourth-ranked Miami prospect Jazz Chisholm played a key part in the win. The No. 67 overall prospec singled in the eighth and came around to score the game-tying run. No. 10 Monte Harrison pinch-ran and crossed the plate on a walk-off single by Jorge Alfaro. Top Philadelphia prospect Alec Bohm reached base three times. He singled twice, walked, drove in a run and scored once. In 25 Major League games, the 2018 first-rounder is batting .303 with a .787 OPS and four multi-hit games in his last 10 contests. No. 15 JoJo Romero allowed a hit and and fanned one in one-third of an inning. Box score

Padres 6, Giants 1

San Diego's No. 24 prospect Jorge Ona knocked out two Major League milestones with one swing. In just his third big league game, the 23-year-old ripped Giants reliever Drew Smyly's first-pitch offering over the left-field fence for his first Major League homer and hit. The blast marked the first time in Padres history that two players homered for their first hit in a week's span -- fourth-ranked Luis Campusano did the same on Sept. 4. No. 6 Adrian Morejon (2-0) recorded the win after scattering two hits and fanning three over 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Top San Francisco prospect Joey Bart snapped a three-game hitting streak by whiffing in all three of his at-bats. Box score

D-backs 5, Dodgers 2

Third-ranked Arizona prospect Daulton Varsho roped a RBI triple to right off Dodgers righty Tony Gonsolin in the sixth to give Arizona a 3-2 lead. He then scored on a homer by Carson Kelly. Varsho also worked a seven-pitch walk from Gonsolin in the eighth. Los Angeles' No. 21 prospect Victor Gonzalez worked around one hit, fanning one, in a scoreless second in relief of injured Dustin May to lower his ERA to 1.29 in 14 frames this season. Box score

Cubs 8, Reds 5

Adbert Alzolay, Chicago's sixth-ranked prospect and top right-handed prospect, gave up three runs on three hits and two walks over 3 2/3 frames. He fanned two and sports a 3.65 ERA. Fourth-ranked Cincinnati prospect Tyler Stephenson singled in a run in his first career start. The 24-year-old backstop also nabbed his first base-runner, throwing out the speedy Billy Hamilton on an attempted steal of second. Sixth-ranked Jose Garcia went 1-for-4. Box score